Report: Army used alcohol, women to recruit football players
The U.S. Military Academy self reported a recruiting violation to the NCAA that was revealed publicly Saturday in a report by The Gazette (Colorado Springs) that detailed the Army football team using alcohol, dinner dates with cheerleaders and female athletes and cash from boosters to lure high school football recruits to the program.
The Gazette reported the Academy in West Point, N.Y., disciplined 20 cadets for promoting underage drinking and other improper benefits, while the coaches involved were also punished. Two police officers, who provided a police escort on a party bus full of cheerleaders, were also reprimanded following an internal investigation by Lt. Col. Shannon Miller in March, one month following the incident.
The detail of the specific punishment was kept confidential. No coaches or players were dismissed from the team, nor were any suspensions announced. A West Point spokesperson told The Gazette the school didn't disclose the misconduct to the public because it was handled "administratively."
"Although seen as a minor infraction by the NCAA, the U.S. Military Academy takes this very seriously and adjudicated this at the highest level of the disciplinary code," West Point said in a statement. "We adjudicated this under Article 10 of the Cadet Disciplinary Code and all cadets appeared before the Commandant's Disciplinary Board."
Miller's description in the investigation highlighted Army director of football operations Lt. Col. Chad Davis as requesting the players to recruit women's basketball and volleyball players at Army as well as cheerleaders for the dinner dates and then saying, "We want recruits to see that there are pretty girls that go here. There are not just masculine women that attend West Point."
The Gazette reported that the players involved included Army starting quarterback Angel Santiago. Army is idle this week and faces Air Force on Nov. 1.
The news comes on the heels of growing scrutiny in military academy athletic programs. Earlier this year Air Force football players were reported to have engaged in drug use, binge drinking, sexual assault and academic cheating.